Its exactly that kind of stuff that got me into chemistry in the first place

I just tried to find some more info about it and found this page (http://wiki.debian.org/MultimediaCodecs) which doesn't really answer my question, but it amused me how much they're at pains to point out that you might have problems if you use unofficial codecs (3 times in a few cms of text).

At the bottom of that document is http://www.debian.org/legal/patent, which says "Debian will not knowingly distribute software encumbered by patents". But debian apparently distribute mp3 and h264 codecs and I'm completely certain that these are encumbered by patents, which is in direct contradiction to that statement.

So who knows what they're up to?

Have they finally come up with a free solution for media playback? Or have they compromised on their principles?

It irritates me that Microsoft, having consistently failed to innovate a phone that anybody wanted to use, is now able to extract money out of other people's efforts. Its an innovation tax. Don't bother innovating, as failed innovators will help themselves to the profits of your innovation.

Incorrect.

The X application that you run remotely has no clue that it is going over an ssh connection. It looks at the DISPLAY variable as normal, then it finds that it points to a particular local port. This port has been opened by ssh which also set up the DISPLAY variable in your shell. ssh -X does the magic but it wouldn't be possible without a network transparent protocol.

Arthur Scargill is currently gets an expensive house in London paid for by the dwindling numbers of the mine workers union so there is no doubt some truth in what you say.

On the other hand the unions are the only real prospect of wage negotiation available to the majority of employees so regardless of their faults they provide a necessary role that doesn't otherwise exist. Sure its possible to leave your job if you don't like your salary, but there are many reasons you might not want to, such as commute distance. I see employers as price-setters and employees mostly as price takers which pretty much means the wage will tend to be on the low side.

I see it as no coincidence that wage inequality has increased over the last 30 years while union membership has decreased. Basically in most instances employers are price setters and employees are price takers (take it or leave it). Unions, whatever other faults they my have, ensured some realistic negotiation on wages.

Text selection sometimes works better with the mouse, and arranging split windows usually works better with the mouse. Also I don't necessarily have to log into two terminals if I wish to have the code open and the command line, when I can have the code open in gvim. I expect I could set something up with screen but that is more effort than using the existing windowing system.

My experience of remote desktop is that it is a remote desktop virtualiser rather than a window virtualiser. Other commenters have stated that since a recent version of Windows it supports application virtualisation as well. This was helpful. Your comment on the other hand didn't contribute.

because I find it quicker to use a mouse to perform some actions when I am dealing with split windows - for example moving a dividing bar.